Changes
by NenaBaby
Summary: This is a story I started on here years ago. Dean and Sam's lives will be forever changed by the introduction of a little girl...and an old friend. Could Dean really have his dream life, a family while still being a hunter? Will Sam and Castiel let that happen?
1. Chapter 1

"I am a traveler of both time and space…" Dean sang out along with his Led Zepplin tape.

"Job," Sam said. He flipped through the handful of small town newspapers littering his lap and the floorboard of the Impala.

"Job," he repeated a little louder.

Dean continued singing, drumming along on the steering wheel.

"I found another job!" Sam yelled, turning the radio volume down.

"Woah there, Sammy," Dean said, wide-eyed. "Do I really have to remind you what happens when someone touches the tunes?

Sam rolled his eyes and fluffed the paper in his hands. "Apollyon, Minnesota," he started. "Father and husband, Eric Liebe, died yesterday in yet to be determined causes."

"And?" Dean asked. "I'm not seeing what's so freaky about that."

"He was found in the middle of Fisherman's Park, his body charred. His six year old daughter was found several feet away under a tree, seemingly unfazed."

"Not another child of the corn," Dean groaned.

"Shut up for a second. There's more," Sam said as Dean gave him a dirty look. "It says here that two years ago the guy's son died in the same way in his backyard in the middle of the day. They found the little girl not far away."

"So what are we thinking?" Dean asked, taking the next exit to head towards Apollyon. "Demon kid?"

"Sounds like it," Sam said, folding the newspaper in his lap. "I guess we'll find out."

"So what's the deal with this family?" Dean asked, adjusting the tie around his neck as he and Sam walked up the driveway of a two-story yellow cottage-like house.

"It's just the mother and the little girl. And foster kids, around five of them," Sam answered as he knocked on the door. The sound of screeching children muffled behind it.

"More kids?" Dean choked.

"What is with you?" Sam asked with a sideways glance.

"Never met a kid I liked," Dean grumbled, adjusting his tie again. "They're always sticky and slimy for no reason! And the smell—"

The door opened to a frazzled, yet pretty, strawberry blonde woman holding a couple slices of bread and a tub of mustard. The squeals of children were almost ear-piercing now. The woman let out a long breath. "Hello, erm…officers? I'm sorry, I thought they were sending investigators tomorrow to talk to Jo."

"Agent Van Zant," Dean said, showing his FBI badge. "Agent Rossington." Sam showed his badge as the woman opened the door wider and let them in. "We had a uh…cancellation?" He looked to Sam who sighed and rolled his eyes.

"We'd like to talk to Jo if you don't mind, alone," Sam interjected before Dean screwed everything up.

"Sure thing," the woman sighed. "She's upstairs in her room. I'll be down here making lunch if you need anything." Just as she said that a red-haired boy ran straight into Dean's leg, dropping his bouncy ball as he did.

"Oww…" Dean mumbled, looking down at the boy adjusting his glasses. Sam reached down and picked up the ball, handing it to the boy.

"What do you say, Phillip?" the woman smiled.

"Uhh…um," Phillip stammered looking between Sam and Dean. "Th—Thanks, sir." And with that he ran off into the back yard.

"Sorry about all the chaos," the woman sighed, just as another little boy zipped past Dean and Sam. "Caleb, no running in the house!" She pointed the mustard towards the stairs. "Jo's in her room, second door on the right."


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for the couple of story alerts! That means a lot. It'd be great if you guys could review the story so far so I know whether to continue this or toss it. It'll probably end up being quite a long story.**

**But I have a really good direction for this story, I promise!**

**Castiel and the mystery woman will make their debuts soon ^^**

**But please let me know what you think. Love it, hate it, suggestions. I'm open to them all :)**

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The guys found the room and a little girl sitting at a child's sized table, coloring. She had dark brown ringlets down to her shoulders and a glow to her skin with green eyes you could see for miles. Sam knocked a knuckle against the door frame to the room.

"Hi, Jo," he smiled. "We're FBI agents and we'd like to ask you a couple questions about your dad and your brother if that's okay with you."

She looked up and nodded, then went back to her coloring piece. "What are your names?" she asked as the guys balanced their too big bodies on two of the child-sized chairs at the table. Dean's knees felt like they were in his gut causing him to breathe like an asthmatic.

"Guess it's time to lay off the cheeseburgers," he groaned. "My name's Dean, sweetheart." _Woah, sweetheart? Where did that come from?_

Jo giggled quietly behind her hand. "You're funny," she laughed, smiling up at Dean. She looked up at Sam expectantly. It wasn't a normal child look. It rubbed Sam the wrong way as he sat down at the miniature table with his brother.

"I'm uh…Sam," he said. "Can we ask you some questions?"

"Mhmm," she smiled up at him, going back to what she was drawing.

"What's that you're drawing, Jo?" Dean asked, craning his neck to get a look. She pushed it towards him. The look on Dean's face caused Sam to snatch the drawing to get a look.

"Wh—what…" Sam trailed off, setting the piece of paper down.

"That's you," she said pointing to a tall stick figure with brown hair. "And you." There was a shorter stick figure with yellow hair drawn atop it. Behind them was a black box with wheels, assumed to be the Impala.

"Jo," Dean said, looking the little girl straight in the eyes. "How did you know we were coming?"

"I don't know," she whispered, starting to frown. "I just did." She looked up to the two men staring intently at her. "Honest. I swear! Just like when Caleb got dead and—and Daddy." She took a deep breath. "I just knew."

"We need you to tell us about that," Sam said. "About their deaths." He wasn't as gentle as he usually was with people, he seemed impatient or something. Dean couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"My daddy always told me I was an angel. That's why he bought me those angels all the time." Jo pointed behind her to the 8-foot tall bookshelf filled with angel figurines. Dean felt like Cas should be there, like this was something for him to deal with. If the girl was a demon or demon-human spawn he didn't have it in him to kill her, Cas would have to. But something in the very back of his mind scratched at his conscience that she wasn't that. She was something else.

"He said that people were going to try to hurt me," the little girl said quietly, looking down at the drawing in her little hands.

"Come on, Jo," Sam sighed, clearly annoyed now. "Tell us what happened."

Dean eyed his younger brother curiously. Placing his hand over Jo's he said softly, "Has anyone tried to hurt you, sweetheart?" She nodded, still looking down. "Your brother?"

"I was playing in the sand box outside and Caleb was supposed to be watching me and…"

"And?" Sam snapped.

"Dude, chill out," Dean snapped back, giving Sam a look that said he meant business. Sam rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest.

"And he tried to hurt me," Jo continued. "He pushed my face in the sand and I couldn't breathe. I started feeling all funny and then I was sitting under the tree and he was…burned up." Dean could see the tears in the child's eyes and it brought some to his own.

"You're doing great, JoJo," Dean encouraged, having no idea where the nickname came from.

"That's what my daddy called me," she said, looking up at Dean.

"Your dad, he tried to hurt you too?" Sam asked,

"No," Jo said, shaking her head vehemently. "We were at the park and this lady tried to get me to go away with her and I wouldn't. She grabbed my arm really tight and hurt it and tried to take me with her and my daddy stopped her, but she disappeared and he was burned up."

As the guys were leaving, Jo ran down the stairs and grabbed Dean's hand before he could step outside. "Take this with you!" She handed him the drawing. Dean took it, smiling at it. He folded it carefully and stuck it in his inside coat pocket before winking at her and heading out to the Impala where Sam was waiting.

All the while noticing Jo watching intently from the front door of her house as he and Sam drove away. _What the hell is going on with me? _Dean thought as he felt a tug in his chest at the site of the little girl.

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**I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as I can, especially if you guys seem to like the story so far.**


	3. Chapter 3

_**HOT.**_

_**TOO HOT.**_

_**FIRE.**_

_**TRAPPED. **_

_**Have to get them out. Have to save her. It's so hot. The fire's burning her.**_

Dean woke up with a violent jolt. His first instinct was to look over to see if he woke Sam.

Negative. Still sleeping.

**HOT. TOO HOT. FIRE. TRAPPED. FIRE. BURNING HER.**

Dean snapped back from the vision that just played out in his head. A vision. A sinking feeling quickly grew in the pit of his stomach.

"Sam! Get up!" Dean said as he scrambled around to pull his clothes back on. He threw one of Sam's gargantuan boots at the frozen lump in the bed. "Now! We need to get Jo."

"Wha…" Sam mumbled, slowly rising up in bed. "Dean, what are—What time is it?"

"Three in the morning. Rise and shine. Get up and get your Gigantor body moving." Dean stood up, ready to leave. "We need to check on Jo."

"Why? What happened?" Sam asked, still confused as he got out of bed and started putting his clothes on almost automatically.

Dean paused to look at Sam, one sleeve of his leather jacket on and the other hanging from his side. "I had this dream thing or…something. It doesn't matter though; we just need to go. Now." He slid his jacket over his shoulders and snatched the keys to the Impala from the top of the television. Sam was only two steps behind him as they stepped outside, icy rain pelting them in the face on the way to the car.

Sam waited until they were on the road to speak. He rubbed his eye with a fist and said, "So a dream thing, huh?"

Dean glanced over at his brother as he raced down the slick highway to the opposite side of town, windshield wipers going. "That's what I said, Sammy. It was a dream. She was in her house and it was on fire."

"And you feel the need to go get her. You think it's really happening? That Jo's in danger?" Sam pried gently.

"Dammit, Sam. Yes! It seemed so real. Too real…" Dean trailed off.

"Sounds like a premonition…" Sam said, more to himself.

Dean eyed his brother, speeding through Jo's neighborhood.

"Look," Sam said, elbowing Dean and point out at the sky off to the right. The night sky was lit up with orange and yellow hues, smoke consuming the stars.

Fire.

Dean pushed the gas pedal to the floor and rounded the last couple streets to Jo's house. They made it before any fire trucks or police. There were only a few bystanders along the road, watching in horror in their nightgowns and robes. Dean barely remembered to put the Impala into park before he and Sam were out and racing towards the house. Sam kicked in the door as Dean pushed past him into a fire pit.

"Jo? Jo!" Dean yelled, covering his mouth and nose with his arm in between calls to what seemed like an empty home.

"Jo!" Sam joined in, searching for the little girl. Or anyone.

"JoJo!" Dean yelled. "Jo—" Dean was cut off by a ceiling beam falling, narrowly missing him and his brother.

"Dean, wait!" Sam yelled, stopping him with a hand on his bicep. "Do you hear that?" He listened for a second. The distance cry of a little girl sounded, coming from the back of the house.

"Stay where you are! I'm coming! Keep yelling, sweetheart!" Dean moved, agile and quick through the burning house, Sam not far behind him. They could hear Jo continuing to call for help like she was told. It felt like forever before Dean finally found her, standing in the middle of the kitchen. Her pink and white nightgown had holes burned through it and her hair was matted to her face. She was crying, rubbing her eyes with balled up fists and coughing from the smoke.

"There you are!" Dean scooped her up and quickly turned around, motioning for Sam to head back towards the front of the house so they could escape.


	4. Chapter 4

"Dean, we just took a child over a state line. We just kidnapped her," Sam said, annoyance clear in his voice.

"Just drive, Sam," Dean snapped. Sam looked in the rearview mirror of the Impala at his older brother. Dean was cradling Jo who was wrapped up haphazardly in his leather jacket. She had finally quieted down and was now only whining softly into Dean's shoulder. He could feel her tears through his t-shirt.

"What the hell are we gonna do with her?" Sam asked, driving past a welcome sign for Iowa.

"They'll assume she died with everyone else. I'm sure that was what was meant to happen." Dean looked down at Jo and felt his heart lurch. He tucked a piece of wet hair behind her ear before saying softly, "Why hasn't Cas turned up yet?"

The guys stopped in their usual flea-bag motel in a town that was so small it didn't even have a traffic light that they'd noticed. Sam opened the door and let Dean in, who set Jo down, her bare feet tip-toeing across the stained orange carpet.

"We're staying here?" she asked in a small voice, looking back at Dean and Sam. It wasn't said in distaste, just curiosity.

"Just for the night, then we're getting back on the road…or something," Dean answered. Sam sighed heavily and strolled over to the bed closest to the window. "Jo, you can have that bed," Dean said, pointing to the other bed. "Me and my brother are gonna take this one."

"Dude, we haven't shared a bed since we were little kids," Sam said, sitting up.

"As long as your leg doesn't find its way over mine and you don't wet the bed, we're good. Alright, princess?" Dean flopped down on the bed next to his brother. Just as he was about to turn out the light, Jo stopped him.

"Dean?"

"What's up, JoJo?"

She shuffled over to the side of his bed, tugging at her burnt pj's. "These are dirty," she said, scrunching her face at them.

"Ah we'll get you some better clothes in the morning. You can have my shirt to sleep in though," he said, pull his shirt off and tossing it to her before lying down and turning off the light.

"And now you're half-naked and we're sharing a bed. Great," Sam mumbled into the dark.

"Dude. Shut up!" Dean spat back, flopping onto his side. "You're being such a woman lately."

Jo giggled quietly across from the room before the three of them drifted off to sleep.

Dean and Sam were pulled from a deep sleep by Jo's high-pitched scream. As if by instinct, within a split second, Dean had Jo up in his arms, his and Sam's guns cocked and ready.

Dean blinked his heavy lids into the darkness of the motel room, only a faint glow from the sliver of moonlight between the curtains showed a visitor.

"Cas?"

"Hello, Dean." Cas moved his arm to his blind spot, not bothering to turn to look, and pushed the muzzle of Sam's shotgun towards the floor.

"What took you so long to show up?" Dean asked, still holding Jo. "We could have used your angel voodoo a while ago."

"I had business to attend to," Cas answered in his usual straightforward manner. His strong gaze stayed fixated on Jo the entire time. She coward into Dean's bare shoulder, whimpering.

"What are you doing with the child?" Cas asked, focusing his gaze even more.

"We were working a case and Dean's fatherly instinct decided to kick in at the worst time ever," Sam said, annoyance clear in his voice.

Cas finally looked back at him. "You don't like the child." Not a question, a statement. Sam shrugged, embarrassed.

"There's something off about her," Sam mumbled.

Dean hugged her tighter to him. "We're all she has left. Everyone else died."

"I'm afraid you cannot keep her, Dean."

"What? What are you talking about?"

Cas slowly closed the small distance between himself and the child in Dean's arms. "She is an angel of the Lord."

"No she's just a ki—" Cas' hand was on her cheek before Dean could finish. She whimpered as if in pain, wrenching her eyes shut, but otherwise didn't move in Dean's arms until Cas pulled away.

"Jophiel," Cas said, nodding to her.

"Hi, Castiel," Jo said, still somewhat child-like. "It's been a while. I was afraid I'd been completely lost in this vessel."

"Holy Freaky Friday," Sam said, wide-eyed.


End file.
